You need to show these photos to anyone who thinks being gay is “just a phase”

Back in 1993, a young gay couple attended a Pride march and posed for a photo together. The resulting picture is a candid snapshot of two people who are happy and incredibly excited, about the world around them and about one another.

But it’s just a single snapshot – a brief moment, encapsulated in film. It tells a love story, yes, but the story ends with the flash of that camera.

Until now, that is.

Some 24 years later, the very same couple (now married) have recreated their Pride photo to show the world that true love does exist, that it can last forever and that being gay is absolutely not “just a phase”.

Nick Cardello, 54, and Kurt English, 52, first met and began dating in 1992. A year later, they decided to attend the March on Washington together – and, while they were there, had a pic snapped of them (Nineties style – y’know, with an actual camera rather than a smartphone) of Cardello kissing English on the cheek.

Since then, the couple have remained a “we” – and, understandably, they have treasured the photograph.

In an interview with Buzzfeed News, Cardello explainedthat they saw it as a “second coming out” but had always resisted sharing it on social media as “a lot of people get kind of sensitive to seeing images of gay men kissing”.

However, last week, the couple decided to recreate the image in the exact same spot on the National Mall, and shared the two snapshots side by side on the internet, because with gay rights under threat from the likes of President Donald Trump and the Democratic Unionist Party, it’s more “important” than ever for people to see them.

“It’s who we are,” they said firmly.

Speaking to Pink News, Cardello said: “The idea here was we were 24 years later, still marching for LGBTQ equality.

“For other reasons now, compared to 24 years ago, but still not full equality.”

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Kayleigh Dray

Kayleigh Dray is editor of Stylist.co.uk, where she chases after rogue apostrophes and specialises in films, comic books, feminism and television. On a weekend, you can usually find her drinking copious amounts of tea and playing boardgames with her friends.